This lesson contains 27 slides, with interactive quizzes, text slides and 1 video.
Lesson duration is: 50 min
Introduction
Aan het eind van deze les kun je herkennen en uitleggen welke voor- en nadelen het leven in een Middeleeuwse stad had.
Items in this lesson
The Middle Ages
Safe but dirty
Slide 1 - Slide
Time of Cities and States (1000-1500)
Slide 2 - Slide
Learning objective
At the end of this lesson you can recognize and explain the advantages and disadvantages of life in a Medieval city.
Slide 3 - Slide
City walls
Cities were interesting to conquer: they were rich and conveniently located.
When cities received city rights, they were allowed to build city walls
City walls made the conquest of a city almost impossible: the inhabitants were safe!
De Franse stad Carcasonne is één van de best bewaarde middeleeuwse steden met stadsmuren
Slide 4 - Slide
When were cities allowed to build city walls?
Slide 5 - Open question
Attack!
The only way to conquer a city was with a siege
The attacking party's armies then surrounded the city
This siege could last for months, sometimes years, and had one goal: starvation, so that the city had to surrender.
If a city finally surrendered, the city was looted and the civilians murdered, raped and / or tortured.
Slide 6 - Slide
What is a siege?
Slide 7 - Open question
Wat zie je als je een middeleeuwse stad zou binnen lopen?
Wat zie je als je een middeleeuwse stad zou binnen lopen?
It was crowded and cramped: most towns were no bigger than 5,000 inhabitants, but because it was small and narrow it seemed much busier.
The market
These clergymen held a procession: a march through the city to show their faith in God. Sometimes this was done to do penance.
De winkels waren meestal duidelijk te herkennen aan uithangborden, waarop symbolen van de ambachten stonden, zoals een vis of brood.
In theory, everyone was allowed to enter the city, as long as you did not bring any (large) weapons with you. Knives had to be measured: if a knife was too big, you had to leave it at the city gate.
Inhabitants of a city are nowadays often called citizens, but in the Middle Ages the term 'poorer' was usually used: someone who lives within the gates of a city.
One of the greatest dangers of a medieval town was fire. Most houses were made of wood, and a small fire could reduce half the town to ashes within a few days. Crafts that required a lot of fire, such as blacksmiths, were therefore located in special places in the town.
Sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs: there were often as many animals as people walking around in a city.
Not all the streets were paved: after a rainstorm, it was a big mud pool, with the (house) dirt washing through the streets.
There was no such thing as a sewerage system or refuse collection service. People sometimes just threw their rubbish on the street or in the canal. So it smelled quite bad, especially in the summer. The filth was also dangerous. The dirt attracted vermin, such as rats. This caused diseases to break out.
Water (to drink and to get clean) was taken from the canal. Indeed: 500 metres away, waste had been thrown into it...
The pillory was one of the punishments you could receive in the Middle Ages.
There were only a few stone buildings in a medieval town, such as the church or the town hall. Later, more stone buildings were added, such as the guild houses.
Houses in this architectural style are called half-timbered houses: the beams in the walls provide the solidity of the house. The spaces between the beams are filled with branches of willow, for example. Then they are filled with a mixture of straw and loam
A city had everything: food, drink, trade and entertainment. It was dirty, but people liked to come there.
timer
3:00
Slide 8 - Slide
Give a short description of a medieval town, as seen in the picture.
Slide 9 - Open question
Do you think this is a reliable source? Please explain your answer.
Slide 10 - Open question
A deadly disease...
The plague bacterium existed in lakes in China for centuries
The bacterium lives in the blood of the black rat
Fleas live off the rat's blood and become infected with plague
The plague ensures that fleas do not ingest anything, so they stay hungry and look for new food: the blood of humans.
An infected flea thus transmits the plague to humans.
De pestbacterie, Yersinia pestis, 2000x vergroot.
Slide 11 - Slide
The plague in Europe
In 1347 the plague arrives in Europe: via the Crimea to Italy
Through trade, the disease spreads rapidly through Europe
The filth and vermin in medieval cities also help to create the great plague epidemic of 1347 to 1351
Eventually, 1/3 of the European population, about 20 million people, die.
De pest door de ogen van schilder Pieter Brueghel de Oude (1562). Voor veel mensen moet de pest zo zijn ervaren: overal dode mensen en complete steden die zijn verlaten.
Slide 12 - Slide
De verspreiding van de pest tussen 1347-1351
1347
middle in 1348
start in 1349
end 1349
1350
1351
Small outbreak of the plague
Slide 13 - Slide
Plaguedocter
The "plague doctors" were volunteers paid by the city to isolate the sick. Herbs were put under the beak of the mask to prevent infection.
Slide 14 - Slide
Punishment of God
The causes of the plague only became known in the 19th century
For the people in the Middle Ages, the disease was a punishment from God
The people thought that God was going to punish them, because they had not lived a good and sinful life.
Flagellanten sloegen zichzelf om zo aan God te laten zien dat zij spijt hadden van hun zonden. De naam Flagellant komt van het Latijnse woord voor zweep: flagellum. Aan het eind van de leren riempjes zitten spijkers.
Slide 15 - Slide
Video
The black death
Slide 16 - Slide
Slide 17 - Video
Make a poster
Create a poster with pictures showing the similarities between infectious diseases in the past and today
De pestbacterie, Yersinia pestis, 2000x vergroot.
Slide 18 - Slide
Why did people like to live in cities and states in the Age of Cities and States? Choose the correct answer.
A
It was cleaner in the city than outside it.
B
It was quieter in the city than outside it.
C
There was much to do in the city. There were often feasts and markets.
D
Diseases were less common in the city than outside it.
Slide 19 - Quiz
Er stierven miljoenen mensen aan de pest. Waardoor maakte de pest zoveel slachtoffers? Kies het juiste antwoord.
A
De mensen dachten dat de pest een straf van God was. Daarom wilden ze de zieken niet helpen, want ze dachten dat God dan nog bozer zou worden.
B
Alleen arme mensen stierven aan de pest. Dat kon de rijke mensen weinig schelen en dus kregen de arme mensen geen hulp.
C
Men wist niet wat de oorzaak van de ziekte was. Daardoor kon er geen goede manier bedacht worden om de ziekte uit te roeien.
Slide 20 - Quiz
People throw poo and pee on the streets. Was that normal in medieval cities?
A
Yes
B
No
Slide 21 - Quiz
The city is surrounded by a wall with a gate in it. Was that normal in medieval towns?
A
Yes
B
No
Slide 22 - Quiz
There are pigs walking through the city. Was that normal in medieval cities?